Hidden Patterns of Life

There are subtle patterns of life that go unnoticed, and which defy our normal perceptions of logic, cause and effect, and space and time. Understanding these hidden patterns not only enables us to see the world in a different way, but gives us the insight to perceive the truths that are unfolding in the atmosphere around us. From that poise we can know the true truth of the reality unfolding around us, giving us one leg up on the world so that we can make the right decisions that invariably will lead to infinitely successful results. In other words, perceiving the subtle workings of life can lead to great accomplishment, success, and happiness in life.

We'll cover a variety of these subtle hidden patterns in life in the following discussion. We'll begin with that most fundamental aspect of life, the simple act.

THE SUBTLE SCIENCE OF ACTS

Introduction to Acts

The master word of life is an act. When we function in the world we do so through the individual acts we perform. Thus the act is the fundamental unit of life, much in the same way that the atom or molecule are the fundamental units of matter. In fact, an act is a microcosm of the universe; i.e. the universe in miniature. All the forces and factors that exert their influence in life in the universe are represented at the level of the individual act, and reveal their characteristic role at that level. This is particularly relevant when we consider our ability to accomplish in life.

There are a series of principles of life that directly relate to acts, the most general of which is that is that the timing, sequence, quality and intensity of an act influences its outcome. Acts that lack any of these qualities fail to produce results, i.e. fail to accomplish. E.g. acts that occur in the wrong sequence, or at the wrong time, or without the necessary intensity will not produce results. On the other hand, acts that are positive in all of these criteria have a very strong propensity for accomplishment. Now let us examine some of the more specific principles of acts, many of which will defy our normal views of what is probable and logical, overcoming our limited views of cause and effect, and space and time

Acts Repeat

The first principle we present about acts -- and an extraordinary one at that -- is that they tend to repeat. The greater the intensity of the force and the more times it repeats, the greater its capacity for further repetition. The quality and intensity of the force express in each subsequent repetition of the act. Here's are several example of a repetition of an act.

In Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice Darcy’s initial refusal to dance with Eliza at the Meryton dance repeats as Eliza’s initial refusal to dance with Darcy when he asks her during her stay at Netherfield Hall.

"One day I was watching a TV program. In the middle of the show I received a phone call from a friend of mine. While listening to my friend I sensed that there was some connection between her and the program I was just watching. Months passed, and I found myself watching a rerun of this same program. What was incredible was that I noticed that I received a call from this same friend at the exact same moment I was watching the identical scene on television from that person. There was more to it, however. I noticed that my friend on the phone was having problems with an individual who had the exact same rather complex Asian name as the person on the show."

As we begin to see how acts repeat in our lives -- defying our normal perceptions of how life unfolds -- we can begin to benefit from our observations . E.g. we can learn to perceive when to take, or not take, actions based on a pervious occurrence of the act. That is, if you know the pattern of a repetition of an act, especially a negative one, you can overcome its ability to repeat in the future. So if a man who becomes ill every five years, can note its frequency, assume that the illness is likely to repeat in another years, and take precautions to prevent its reoccurrence when the next iteration rolls around. He can say "ah here it is coming on again. I am over-stressed again in this cycle, which is what ordinarily brings on the repetition. I will take actions to prevent such reoccurrence." Now as a result of perceiving the coming repetition, this individual has changed the course of his life.

Consider one other real life experience, where an individual saw a repetition of an act that expressed negatively, and then was able to avoid it the second time, i.e. when it would have normally repeated:

A computer consultant worked on a consulting project for a number of hours and days only to find out that he could not do the project because of his limiting skills. It was clear from the onset that he might not be able to do it. In fact, as it turned out he was unable to do it for the client, honestly explained it to the client, who were grateful of his honesty, and had now found a company who could do it. On the other hand the consultant wasted a lot of time. As it turned out the project was later completed by the other consulting company in fine order. A few months later the consultant was asked if he could help the same client with another project. Again it was an area out just out of his expertise, even though he had had a little experience with the program many years before. This time remembering that acts repeat, he knew that he would likely be wasting a lot of time if he were to take it on. He firmly decided not to take on the project because of the likelihood that the current situation was likely to be a repetition of the same situation that happened initially.

Thus from pattern recognition of the repetition of acts one has the insight to change, i.e. to negate or reinforce, the future. It is a miracle of insight into the workings of life, including understandings of the true, subtle nature of space of time. If we are conscious we will be able to recognize the patterns; if we are not, the likelihood of seeing the patterns and reversing them is very limited. In summary then there are at least two ways to prevent a repetition. The first is an action or will on our part related to the act that is more powerful than the force that wants to repeat. The other is our recognition of the pattern in the first place, which has the power to cancel the next iteration. In other words we can be aware of life's patterns of repetitions of acts, and then we can consciously control the next repetition. We have that conscious power in life.

Instead of Repeating, Acts Reverse

As each act is a force, it has a tendency to repeat. However, when the force of the act is insufficient for repetition or meets an obstacle that prevents it from accomplishing in a particular direction, the energy of the act may reverse course and express in a direction opposite to the original act.

Examples: -In Pride and Prejudice Eliza facetiously asks Collins whether it would be appropriate for him to attend the Netherfield ball. Her intention is to discourage him from attending. He responds by asking her for the first two dances, which she had hoped to reserve for Wickham. “Her liveliness had never been worse timed.” Her clever comment is insufficient to discourage Collins who sees the dance as an opportunity to promote his courtship with her, so it provides him with an unexpected opening to further his plan. Her cleverness backfires.

-In Pride and Prejudice Darcy conceals Jane’s presence in London from Bingley. At Rosings Fitzwilliam unintentionally reveals to Eliza Darcy’s interference between Jane and Bingley. The original act of intentional concealment gets reversed as an act of unintentional disclosure.

Initial Occurrence Portents Repetitions, Final Outcome

A related phenomenon we have experienced is how the initial occurrence of an event is often an indicator of how that thing will end up in the end. Here's an example:

A company could not afford to pay a trainer a reasonable fee in the beginning of their relationship. The trainer, though not completely happy with the arrangement, accepted the fee, continued to work with the company, and eventually begin to receive higher fees through hard work. At the end of the relationship, however, the training company went through some problems, and had to cut the trainer's income back to the original lower level. Despite changes along the way, the initial occurrence indicated the final outcome.

Here's another example where the initial occurrence portended the final outcome:

A man was eager to have a first meeting with the owners of a small company. He spoke to one of the principles who gave him directions to get to the location. When he arrived in the general vicinity of the business, he got lost based on the directions or perhaps on his own lack of following the directions. He went round and round in circles for twenty minutes. This really upset him since this meeting was one of the key turning points in the young man's life.

Finally he found the place, and had a good meeting. As a result of the meeting he established a relationship with the company. A few years later he established his own company a distributor of the products of the other company. After an initial few years of success, his company faltered, and in a few years ended in bankruptcy.

Finally, here's one other dramatic example where the nature of the result of a work can be seen in the first step:

A consultant was on his way to meet with a Fortune 500 company for the first time to discuss the organization of its accounting systems. He was to meet with his contact, and then meet with the client. Just after he parked his car in a downtown garage, he heard and saw a huge explosion that turned into a fireball 10 stories high just one block from the clients office building! It startled him and many on the street. A moment later he found out that the explosion was part of a Hollywood movie stunt, and therefore did no harm. Still he was shaking when he arrived at the client.

Knowing that an event such as this could be a sign of other things, he asked his contact after the meeting if there were things he should know about that were going on behind the scenes between the contact and the client. The contact then admitted that in fact things had gotten bad with the client; that he was in the process of losing the account, and he had hoped that the consultants involvement could improve the situation. In the end the consultant never got the work. Somehow, given the events of the day (i.e. the explosion), he was not surprised. (Update Months later another situation involved a client in a nearby location, which turned out also to be troubled and also did not work out.)

Coincidence? These are examples of one interesting life law. There are many other interesting generally unseen laws of life. We say that these seemingly logic-defying happenings are random occurrences, or that they are "chance" or "coincidence." Our own observations and experiences has been the opposite. We believe that these are in fact hidden laws of life, including these phenomenon of cycles and repetitions, that occur with great precision and regularity. What is responsible for these cycles and phenomenon of life remains a mystery, but the fact that they occur is a certainty.

Most importantly we can learn from these occurrences. By observing life closely we can gain clues to help us make decisions on what to do (or not to do), or how to respond to a person or events. In other words, this "inner" knowledge, if applied correctly, can help us achieve and succeed at higher levels in life.

Predecessor Events Indicate Main Event

Another fascinating phenomenon of life is that anything good or bad that is going to happen to you is already indicated by something that occurred earlier to you. E.g. the day before a woman gets terrible news that her sister has eloped with a scoundrel in the military, she was deeply bothered when hearing that the scoundrel's military outfit may have left town. In this way the previous day's occurrence is a predecessor of the major event that is to follow.

You can study any work of fiction and see how any major event was foreshadowed by a negative circumstance earlier. It is also absolutely true for the real world as well, It is a major rule of the working of life, and there are no exceptions!

If we are vigilant, we can thus see the signs of major coming events. Also, if we can learn to avoid negative situations in the first place that might for the forerunners of the successor event. We can even use spiritual means to overcome the successor event if we can identify our negative behavior or action in the first place and offer it to the Divine.

One's Speech Indicates Coming Event A corollary of this phenomenon of predecessor to main events is that whatever you speak in one moment announces in some fashion what is to come in the next moment. This is especially obvious true when you fell or express something negative.

A woman in a somewhat negative tone suggested to another that her mother doesn't like exuberant children, and therefore spends the day upstairs. After expressing this she reads a letter indicating a negative elopement with one of those children her mother liked to avoid.

A related phenomenon we have witnessed is that acts and events that occur at the same time are related, no matter how unconnected they appear on the surface. In fact, the relation sometimes reveals itself later on as a physical connection between people or events.

A consultant was working with his client to develop a software program. While discussing its distribution and marketing an affiliate partner of the client called the client, at which point the client explained to the affiliate of the client about the work the consultant was doing on the new software program. The affiliate didn't know about the program. A number of months later when the marketing of the program came up again at the location of the client, the affiliate of the client was there too. This was remarkable since the consultant was rarely at the clients location; nor the affiliate. Yet there they were all discussing the marketing of the product, just as the initial phone call occurrence.

Whenever acts and events occur at the same time, no matter how far apart, or how seemingly unrelated on the surface, they are related at a level of life, which will often later show itself at some physical level. In addition, this phenomenon often represents a psychological parallel between the thoughts or attitudes of different people who are involved.

A man received an email from a friend, at the same time that an order came in from a client. These were the only two emails. It turns out that the client's organization had the same ethical and spiritual interests as the friend's.

So the next time you see a number of things that happen at the same time, not the relationship between the people and the circumstance under which it occurs. It is likely to repeat sometime in the future, perhaps as a physical connection amongst the people as it relates to the same area.

ADDITIONAL HIDDEN PATTERNS OF LIFE

Signs & Portents

Most of us have seen an interesting connection between two events and have brushed it off as mere coincidence. Our own experience is that many of the things that we half-consciously associate as being related are in fact very much related. Often life is presenting signs and portents of things to come, or things that are happening out of site.

A man was having problems in his relationship with his relatives. One day he walked out his door and saw cat excrement at his doorstep, something that he rarely if ever saw before in years of living at his residence. A moment later he went to his mailbox and got a letter from his relative that was filled with anger. He half noted the connection. He received only two or three letters from these relatives in the next decade, but each time he received the letter there was animal excrement in front of his door, the only times he ever had the excrement at his door!

In this example we are not only witnessing a portent but we are seeing an example of a life repetition, the topic we discussed earlier. We can see signs of ill will through signs and portents just as we can see signs of good will and positive occurrences. (For example just before a particular individual calls there is a feeling of calm and well-being). In either case through a sign a portent we are given a glimpse of things to come.

Often in literature as in life we see relationships between physical occurrences in nature and events happening in the lives of the characters in the story. While some of us might attribute this to poetic license our research indicates that these correspondences are pretty indicative of what happens in real life. In King Lear the king begins to go mad as he deals with his limiting attitudes toward his beloved daughter where the background is a raging storm with lightning, wind and rain. On the other hand in Pride and Prejudice Eliza, formerly reluctant to visit a man of good character and great wealth, gives up her limiting attitude and meet him at his estate on an utterly perfect spring-like day in England. Her new openness to a vaster level of accomplishment in her life is mirrored in nature's corresponding glory. Just to take one example in real life. At the end of 1996 and the start of 1997 a man in California was in the midst of a great project that offered great, unprecedented opportunity in his life. On the first day of 1997 it rained harder in California that any day in recorded history. Rain is often seen as a symbol of grace or good fortune. This was especially so for this man.

Just as our conscious daily lives can reveal signs and portents so can our semi or unconscious existence reveal the same. For example, dreams can on occasion be signs and portents. Our research suggests that although dreams are most often projections of complex conscious and subconscious thoughts and feelings, with no direct relationship to the actual outcomes of current or future events, sometimes they are in fact real indicators of things to come. (Again we say this with restraint, however, because our research indicates that 90% of dreams are not premonitions of anything, and are merely one's descent into unconscious parts of our being.)

Here's an example of where an individual benefited from a dream:

A man noticed that every time he had a dream where there was great confusion at work, the next day the computer equipment didn't work properly or there were other technical problems. At first he didn't connect the two, and whenever the computer equipment went out (which happened not very frequently) he along with others became annoyed and agitated about the situation.

However, after another occurrence of the dream he was determined not to get upset if the equipment went out that day. And so, of course (!), the equipment went out that day of the dream. As before, others were still annoyed and agitated at the situation. Fortunately the man was able to quickly aid in the solution of the technical problem. A few moments after a few of the people there asked him how he could remain so calm under the circumstance. He couldn't tell them his secret!

There are times when dreams are indicators of future events, which when understood in their proper light, can help us better cope with events as they unfold.

There are endless signs and portents that occur in life that we can be observant of. For example, if we have a power outage and then receive a letter from someone with bad will, we can see a correlation. Or the opposite, where there is a feeling of happiness or richness, and we receive a letter thereafter from someone with good with and positive feeling toward us. There are endless variations of such a phenomenon.

You can also learn to read the other person's intention through signs and portents. An example of this is a marketing person who calls you on the phone at precisely the wrong moment in the day. You might be about to have your dinner or do something else enjoyable or important, and you get the call at just the wrong moment. You know that this person calling is completely out of tune with your intentions. This is because their job pretty much entails being uncaring of your need for peace and quiet focusing rather on their need to sell you something even if it is at the most inconvenient moment. This indicates an intent that has negative forces in it. The call comes exactly when it shouldn't. There are many instances of this. For example, someone calls, and asks for a person who has just left. The originator of the call is somehow out of balance, perhaps being too rushed or impulsive. You can of course see this same phenomenon in other areas of life beyond phone calls; in letters, in emails, and others. And of course you are doing it to others as well, except from your side you are unconscious of it!

Subtle Awareness of Outer Life

If you watch the unfolding of life around you very closely, you will see at any moment an indication of what is right and what is wrong; of what is problematic and how it will stay so in the future. It is an inner awareness and perception that enables you to make right decisions and take right actions. It is a marvel to behold.

A man was trying to decide which computer to purchase. He thought of a number of different approaches, and then began to pursue them. Each time he tried to act, he was met by a resistance in the market; e.g. the salesperson in one store was inattentive to him, the system he wanted was out of stock, he didn't have his photo ID to complete another sale, and on and on! This was truly an indication that his actions would not be fruitful; that life was pointing him in another direction. (It was also an indicator of his original confusion and indecision, but that is another story.) He finally realized, as a result of his observations of the "negative" results in the environment around him, that a second computer he already had would be his new computer. All worked out well from that point on.

Moving to Depths to Develop Subtle Sense The best way to develop this subtle sense is to live less at the surface of life, and more in the depths within yourself. As your consciousness moves deeper within, not overwhelmed y the tumult of the surface, you develop a calm as well as a better awareness of things occurring around you, including the subtle sense of what is unfolding, what is the right and wrong things to do, etc.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS & WHAT OCCURS IN THE WORLD

What You Sow is What You Reap (i.e. Law of Karma)

The energy we give out comes back to us. Life never fails to return good for good, bad for bad, truth for truth, and falsehood for falsehood—in its own time and manner. This principle is otherwise known and often misunderstood as karma. Karma in Sanskrit means ‘work’. Every act represents an energy directed toward some purpose or goal. The nature of the energy expressed in an act is defined not only by the physical action, but more essentially, by the motive, attitude, idea and intention expressed in the action.

Inner-Outer Correspondence

Has it ever occurred to you that whatever is happening to you on the outside is a direct reflection of your attitudes, beliefs, and feelings that you have within you? If you take any situation where something difficult or bad has been happening to you, if you look deeper you will be able to find a related limited quality on your part. Even if there doesn't seem to be any obvious direct cause of your involvement, if you look deeper, you will find a corresponding weakness within yourself that relates to the negative situation. Though this sees to defy logic, laws of rationality, and our normal notions of cause and effect, our experience is that this phenomenon of "inner-outer correspondence" is nevertheless true. Consider this real life example:

An instructor noticed that he had not secured enough work for the upcoming Christmas/New Year season. He tried in a limited way to secure some additional work, but nothing seemed to come out of it. During this quiet period he had the opportunity to learn a new software technology. He was half-hearted into it, focusing more of his energy on the fact that there wasn't enough work.

He then decided to change his feelings and committed himself to learning the new software technology, and plunged into it. The next day he got a call with work filing up virtually the entire holiday season!

The instructor had a negative situation on his hand. He saw that there was not work coming his way. He then (consciously or subconsciously) identified a negative quality of his own, the reluctance to take up the learning of the new technology. When he made the effort to overcome his reluctance (i.e. he acted on it), life instantly responded in kind, and in a corresponding very positive manner.

What we experience on the outside is a reflection of what is inside; i.e. there is a correspondence between our character and the actions that happen around us, even if we cannot fathom the connection. We have seen that this phenomenon works in ways that defy all logic and common sense, and even defies the normal laws of space and time. Yet whatever its logic, there is no denying the fact of its reality.

The reason that this phenomenon exists is because everything in the universe is related in energy and consciousness. All existence, seen or unseen, forms a unity of relation, association, and purpose. So that what is outside of us is related to what is inside of us. There is not the division that we would normally associate. This oneness of the outside to the inside, or from ourselves to others is rooted in this spiritual oneness of life, rooted in the spiritual substance and conscious force that underlies all existence.

We can use this knowledge of inner-outer correspondence to our benefit; to right any wrong, as well as to accomplish to a greater degree in life. For example, we can follow this simple technique: If we experience any negativity in our lives, we can immediately try to link it to something that is wanting in our being or an action that was wanting in the past, be it the immediate past or relatively distant past. If we reverse the corresponding attribute in ourselves, the negativity will begin to evaporate, or it will not repeat. Consider these true life experiences:

-A man’s computer system is suddenly not working properly. He takes the approach that he is going to associate the outer problem, with some inner attitude on his part. He notices that he has been irritable in the last few minutes dues to fatigues, etc. He decides to stop that behaviour. He even mildly consecrates the situation. Thereafter the computer starts functioning properly, even better than it normally should at that point in its daily use.

-A woman's child is acting irritable. She associates the behaviour with her own attitude toward the child at that moment. The child's behaviour suddenly reverses, and becomes subdued.

The same holds true for positive experiences. If we see positive things happening in our lives, then we can tie these occurrences to a positive qualities (attitudes, beliefs, decisions, actions, etc.) inside ourselves. Then we can learn to reinforce that quality so that even greater positive results can occur in the future.

From this perspective we can begin to look at life in a whole different way. When we encounter an external obstacle in life, rather than recoiling from life we can look within ourselves and discover an opportunity for inner growth. When we take the effort to make that growth, outer problems dissolve and new opportunities open up for us. Life responds in kind. We open the gates for great accomplishment and success in our lives. We also learn the deeper spiritual truth of the correspondence between ourselves and the environment; of the oneness of life.

Falsehoods Return as Negative Experiences

By falsehood we mean a negative expression in life such as anger, jealousy, meanness, ill-will, wrong action, lack of knowledge, and so forth. Our observation is that when a falsehood, i.e. a negativity is expressed by someone it returns sooner or later to that individual or related individuals as a negative experience. Here are some examples of this phenomenon:

-A teases B about B’s capacity to always complement other people. B may not be conscious that A's intends a mild insult. After C’s elopement, B has the satisfaction of writing a letter of condolences to the whole family (that A is the head) of reaps full revenge for their earlier mocking. (In other words, A's negativity returns on him later on.)

-A trainer was about to do training in a new software application. He went through the materials and found them very difficult to work with. Instead of adjusting to the materials as he had done in previous situations he rejected the materials and suggested to the training company that they go with a different materials. When he sent the email to this effect, the email was lost. When a second email was sent the proposal was rejected. (In other words, instead of the instructor working with what he had, he became reluctant, a falsehood. When he acted on the falsehood it retuned in the form of lost emails and a rejection.)

Truths Return as Positive Experiences

If falsehoods attract an equal negative response to the initiator of the falsehood somewhere down the line, the opposite is also true. A positive act, i.e. a truth attracts a positive response of life to the individual. For example, let's see how the above trainer reversed is negative attitude and turned it into a positive and attracted a positive response from life.

-The trainer decided to reverse his negative feelings about the difficult to use materials. He went through the book again to organize himself for an upcoming class, and restrained his feelings from in any way being negative. When he performed the class, he was astounded when one of his students remarked how incredibly well put together the materials were! He had never in ten years of training ever heard a student in the course of a class ever mention the materials in any way like that! By the way, the class went near flawlessly.

Truth attracts positive experiences sooner or later to the individual who initiates it; often in ways that seem to burst out from life in ways that defy all common sense and logic. A truth can be in the form of a reversal of a negative attitude or any other falsehood, as well as from an original generally positive attitude, goodwill, gratitude, and a positive general attitude amongst others. For example, here is an example of how goodwill generates a positive response to the issuer of the goodwill:

In the book Pride and Prejudice Eliza is energetic, cheerful, and expansive with intense goodwill for her sister Jane, and has an eagerness to see her sister marries well. Jane gets Bingley, a man with an excellent income. (Eliza's goodwill returns in the form of Jan's good fortune). Likewise because Jane is positive toward Eliza and receives her support with goodwill, Eliza gets Darcy with a great income. (Jane's goodwill returns in the form of Eliza's good fortune).

The Power of Speech

Negative Expressions

Speech generates a powerful vibration that can actually pass from one person to another. For example, if a person is angry and expresses it, that anger can get expressed by another person who may not even have been there when the original anger was expressed.

Likewise if anger is expressed about a subject it can actually have negative circumstances that vibrate out in the real world. For example, two individuals have a quarrel about something. One person expresses great anger and outrage about their relationship. She later finds out that two people she wanted to see together have now cancelled their engagement.

In yet another instant the frustration of wrong-headed someone about another person not only doesn't convince the person to change their point of view but causes the vibration of expressed frustration in the world to go out and impact circumstances, that cause even more frustration for person who verbalized the initial frustration. For example, a mother is exasperated by the fact that her daughter doesn't want to marry a man who is obviously not suited for. She tells her daughter that she'll never find anyone. This vibration goes out into the world and has some effect such that she finds out the next day that her other daughter's marriage has been cancelled.

Finally, speech can cancel a positive circumstance or outcome. For example, a man thinks he's got a new job, and gets drunk and boasts about it. the next morning he finds out that the owner has changed his mind and found someone more suitable for the job.

Soft Speech & Silent Will

On the opposite of the coin we can see how restraining speech can bring about great positive results in life. If speaking expresses an energy or a force, the refusal to speak restrains the energy or force. It is an act that builds up the energy and increases its power and force for accomplishment. We have already mentioned the power of soft speech and speaking fewer words as a way to bring about a positive response from life. For example, a man who was on the verge of bankruptcy was asked to change his level of speech, and within a few months his entire financial and job situation completely turned around for the better.

In a similar vein we have noticed that is a person restrains themselves from talking, the other person will actually say what he had on our mind. For example, a man is tying to persuade another man for an appointment. Instead of trying hard to convince him, he withdraws his argument, and controls his desires, and after a few moments the other person verbalizes and agrees to the very thing desired in the first place. Likewise by restraining from talking one can elicit a positive response from life. For example, a woman wants a particular man whom she meets. Rather than express it intensely she practices silent will and restrains from verbalizing her feelings. The object of her affection comes forward and proposes to her within three days. We address this subject in more detail in the topic Silent Will Power.

In the final analysis quieter speech, fewer words when speaking, and restraining speech altogether when appropriate (i.e. silent will) lead to positive results in life. Negative verbal expressions, such as anger, frustration, and premature expressions create negative results for one's self for others, or cancels positive results.

HUMAN ACCOMPLISHMENT & THE HIDDEN PATTERNS OF LIFE

Wanting Delays The Things Wanted

Here's another life law that we have noticed that some of you have experienced in one form or another. We have noticed that if you want something too much in an impatient or restless manner, it tends to delay the thing from coming; or even cancels it.

For example, you might notice that the more you want something to come in the mail (e.g. a check or an acceptance), the less likely it is to appear in the mail. The opposite is also true, if you forget about something important that is coming (e.g. in the mail), and focus on the tasks and work at hand, the item in the mail comes, (and often you are surprised when it does arrive because your mind is no longer focused on it!). There are endless examples of the phenomenon. Here's one:

A man very much wanted to get a prize. A selection committee unanimously chose to give him the prize he was seeking. He got excited about this turn of even. Suddenly the recommendation of the committee was ignored, and another man received the prize. The man forgot the prize and immersed himself in his work. One day he stayed awake well into the night attending to his work. A second man knocked at his door and announced that the prize had been now in fact given to the first man, and that he had come at that hour in his eagerness to convey the good news.

Here's another example of how giving up eagerness to gain something by taking care of what was essential, leads to success:

A man was watching his favorite sports teams on television. It was an important game for all the teams since they were close to winning their division championships. Obviously he wanted them to do well, though up to that moment that day they were doing only fair. At the same time he needed to take care of other things in his life, such as bathing, etc. As he continued to watch he noted that the his teams continued to go down hill. He remembered the idea of taking care of the essentials first, so he bathed and took care of other essentials. When he turned on the TV all of his teams had dramatically advanced their cause for the better.

Anticipating a Thing By Speaking It, Cancels It

Here's a related phenomenon that we have witnessed.

Verbally expressing a wish for a positive outcome in a situation has the power to cancel any chance for its success. For example, some sportscasters have the tendency to anticipate a positive outcome to an unfolding of the play involving the home team. They make a statement to this effect at critical moments in the play, rather than holding their tongue. Invariably the outcome is always the opposite of their verbalization.

This is similar tendency of anticipating anything, such as anticipating a check in the mail, which has the effect of negating any possibility of its arrival. When one forgets it instead of anticipating the chance for its arrival is enhanced. This is of course tied into the falsehoods, and negative life responses (or at least non-positive life responses) that come as a result of desire.

(These tendencies bring out one of the overall weaknesses of the vital/emotional plane of human consciousness, its tendency to desire, which is one of the great falsehoods of the vital. (For more on the limitations of the vital plane of individuals, click here.))

Negative Influences When One Tries to Ascend

One interesting phenomenon we have witnessed is that when an individual tries to make a significant progress for improvement in life, often there appears on the scene a negative influence or obstacle to prevent that ascent. However, if the person has the required energy and force of character, they can overcome this negative influence, and move on to that higher level. If they don't, they will be brought down, and their imitative will fail. Mother's Service Society explains:

Every accomplishment in life is vulnerable to interference or destruction by negative influences. The higher the accomplishment is with respect to previous levels of achievement, the greater the vulnerability. The character of a negative influence can be seen from the nature of events that occur when its approaches or leaves the atmosphere.

In the book Pride and Prejudice we can see excellent examples of this phenomenon, with negative and the positive results.

-The Bennet family is aspiring the marriage of their daughters to a higher level of prosperity. Lydia is one of the daughters, She is energetic and good-natured, but is wild, crude, and unconstrained. Darcy and Bingley are the well to do suitors for the Bennet daughters. However, the great good fortune coming to the Bennet family through the approach of Bingley and Darcy is undermined by Lydia’s low behavior. She is the weak link in the family through which disaster strikes and almost cancels great good fortune. It is a response of the lower portion of the family to the higher opportunity that has opened for the family. The weakest link breaks when the strongest contemplates an upward initiative at times of great opportunity.

-Eliza, the heroine of the story is one of the Bennet daughters. She is on her way to a movement upward in her life through her potential emerging connection with Darcy, the hero of the story. however, along the way she gets involved with Wickham, a handsome, yet treacherous man, whose treachery she is completely blind to because of her physical attraction. Her involvement with this individual at a time when she is beginning to move to a higher level of accomplishment almost ruins her. (Her weakness is not that she met a treacherous man that she didn't know about; but that she got caught up in her desires and physical attraction, an experience of weakness and falsehood common in life. Ultimately, however her strength of character pulls her through, and she overcomes this setback.)

Here's one final example of how negative influences try to undermine the ascent of an individual to the next highest level of life.

A consultant was given a project to develop a software program for a consortium of electronic retail stores. It was a significant project with opportunities far beyond the initial phase of the project, and offered initial money that could have taken the consultant to the next level in his living situation. he was under intense pressure to finish the project as well as fulfill his other commitments. Just near the very end of the project, he was kept awake for nights by an unruly, rowdy, and bullying neighbor. One night when the pressure and noise became so great he went to confront the neighbor. The neighbor physically struck the consultant, and seriously injured him. Though the project was completed and delivered on time, the consultant had to use the money compensation for his work to support himself during his rehabilitation since he could not work for a period of months. he never had the money to get a better living situation.

Human Initiative that Leads to Success or Failure

When we try to accomplish something in life through our initiative, it may or may not succeed. We have already indicated negative forces that might rise in opposition. Here are some other the subtle workings of life that affect the success or failure of any initiative.

1. When the social atmosphere is positive with regard to an initiative, the atmosphere fosters success. When the atmosphere is negative, the initiative will fail, unless the individual is able overcome the resistance of the atmosphere.

(Example) In a community there is a very positive feeling towards improving the education in the community. An individual begins an initiative to improve the quality of the courseware. On the surface she initially fails; yet the initiative is taken up by another person and succeeds with it. That is because there is a positive atmosphere in the community as it relates to education. (If there were a negative atmosphere toward education, the initiative would have failed all around.)

(Example) (As indicated in the book The Three Musketeers) "Whatever the liberality of the day, the story takes place in an age when the belief in good is quite pervasive and religious issues dominate society. In fact, if one law seems to express throughout the story, it is the resistance to illicit love at higher levels of society. Buckingham's advances to Anne lead to his death. Constance's two attempts to unite with D’Artagnan are frustrated, the first by her arrest, the second by her death. Even Milady's passion for de Wardes is frustrated by D’Artagnan. Aramis returns to religion, not to his aristocratic lover. Only Porthos who seeks money, not love, and stoops to the level of the proprietress succeeds, and that too by marriage. There is no instance of illicit love prospering in the story." (MSS)

2. Initiatives fail when taken outside one’s field of influence, authority or control.

(Example) A man tries to create a higher sense of moral authority in the community. He is in fact a man who is lacking in some of those areas of morality himself. His initiative to bring about moral authority ultimately fails.

In the novel The Vicar of Wakefield, (a book by Goldsmith) the Vicar by his birth, upbringing, profession and character is of a high moral plane. Those moral values enshrine humility and modesty and idealism. But along with his morality, the Vicar has a streak of foolish assertion and arrogance. The expression of this trait cancels whatever positive things he may otherwise merit from life. The Vicar's life is comfortable and successful until he asserts his foolishness over the issue of monogamy at his son's betrothal, raising the issue of which George's future wife's father is most vulnerable because of his plans to remarry. The Vicar asserts that he holds truth higher than his fortune and news quickly comes that his fortune is lost followed by news that the marriage into a wealthy family is also lost.

Had the Vicar really been above money, his words may have brought a different response. But he has chosen to offend a thing which he and his family really cherish as a boast of higher idealism. Life forces him to live up to that higher idealism by depriving him of everything -- money, position, reputation, freedom, health -- he ever had. When he finally rises to the level of that idealism i.e. becomes stronger than life at that point, not only the original wealth returns and the original marriage arrangement, but abundant wealth from all sides comes.

(Example) A man tries to create a higher sense of moral authority in the community. The community has actually transcended his morality with an openness to new ideas that the individual cannot fathom. His initiative to bring about moral authority fails.

3. Initiatives from lower levels of life do not have power for accomplishment at higher levels of life.

(Example) A consultant was asked to investigate the development of tool to allow for online student training evaluations. He worked on it for months without ever clarifying with his superior the pay he would receive as well as the timeframe on the project. Ultimately the project failed completely, and the consultant wasted months of his time.

(Example) X tries to influence Y's opinion about Z. X’s efforts to influence Y’s opinion of Z fail because X is stationed at a lower level of the social hierarchy than Y. It is the higher station that sets the standards for what is or is not acceptable or fashionable.

4. On the other hand, initiatives by those in a higher plane of life (i.e. with greater wealth, status or power) toward those in a lower plane tend to be readily and richly fulfilled, provided the lower is a willing recipient and does not raise obstacles or resistance to receiving. This principle acts in the same manner as water flowing downhill.

(Example) A manager of a training company wanted to have her instructors do training on a new software program Many happily agreed to it, and received basic knowledge on the program from the training company. After a number of months the training by the instructors went very well for the training company's clients, and even led to additional profitable training on related new products.

5. Initiatives may receive unexpected support from life when they are aligned with new movements in life that are gaining momentum. On the other hand, initiatives may meet with unexpected resistance when they are aligned with movements that are passing out of existence.

(Example) X’s efforts to marry her daughter Y to Z for social purposes meet with resistance and ultimately fail. X seeks to capitalize on the mutual pledge of her sister and herself that their children should marry, a practice whose value is passing out of existence. The light in Y’s eyes that X feels is enough to overcome the best-laid plans of the older generation to perpetuate itself in the old style.

6. Initiatives succeed when taken with sufficient energy and capacity to reverse previous actions that failed as the result of an inappropriate attitude or behavior.

(Example) A man tries to break up the marriage of his child, and succeeds for a time. After a change of heart he decides that his decision was very foolish and he tries to patch things up.. The success of his initiative to change will only occur if he has sufficient vigor to do so and if he gains to agreement of the parties who were initially involved.

(Example) A man tries to create a higher sense of moral authority in the community. The community has actually transcended his morality with an openness to new ideas that the individual cannot fathom. His initiative to bring about moral authority fails.

These are then some of the major forces at play that affect the success or failure of any initiative that a person takes in life.

Social Determinants on Individual's Destiny

When we interact with the world we see it from our own perspective. At another level there is often a broader purpose and unfolding taking place. For example, both Romeo and Juliet looked at their lives in terms of their attraction and passion. However they were far less conscious of the unfolding of the conflict between two social forces, the Montague and Capulet clans, and how their lives were so intertwined in the greater conflict of these two clans. After the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet unfolds the two clans are in the end shocked into realization that their disputes must be settled, otherwise more tragedies like Rome's and Juliet's would take place.

The point here is that life often seems to be working out a higher purpose than the individual participants may understand. The undertow of currents can overwhelm our "small intentions." It could even be argued that life itself is a conscious force that is unfolding in the world and uses individuals for its greater purpose. Therefore the outcome of initiatives is driven by greater forces that have their own intention and energy as they unfold in the world. In our own lives life's higher purposes are also playing themselves out in some fashion.

There is a subconscious social will that is at play that works through individual characters and events. For us to be aware of these social forces at play can help us be more in tune with the temper of our times and thereby help us achieve at a greater level than if we were mere puppets in the social play that we are always a part of.

The examples of hidden patterns of life that we have addressed in this topic are part of a vast network of patterns that are occurring in life. If you are observant you too can experience them, enabling you to see the deeper movements of life at work, which if properly understood can help you make better decisions and take better actions to help you be more successful and happy in life.

Keep in mind that our knowledge of these patterns is not yet complete. Consider it a work in progress; a science with new possibilities, discoveries and vistas. We hope the information we have provided is a good starting point to help understand planes of life that have been for the most part hidden from view.